Gilas gives France a hard time but still falls short, 93-84

The Philippine national men’s basketball team suffered a huge setback in their bid to make it into the 2016 Rio Olympic basketball tournament as they fell, 93-84, in their game against France in Group B of the preliminary round of the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

France’s Nando De Colo exploded for 27 points while NBA star Tony Parker added 21 points and six assists.

Joffrey Lauvergne and Kim Tillie each added 10 points while Boris Diaw finished with a well-rounded line of nine points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Andray Blatche led Gilas Pilipinas with 21 points and eight rebounds while Terrence Romeo added 19 points. Jayson Castro, considered the Best Point Guard in Asia, finished with just 14 points and three assists.

Gilas still has a chance, though, if they can hurdle New Zealand in their second assignment on Wednesday.
 Gilas put up a fight in the dying minutes but Blatche was whistled for a disastrous fourth personal foul late, likely ensuring he would miss crucial minutes in the final period.

Romeo and Ryan Reyes made some big three-pointers in the fourth but Mickael Gelabale made some big plays for the visitors, posting up Castro for two points before scoring off an offensive rebound a few plays later.

But Gilas continued to fight as Troy Rosario scored on a huge tip-in, Castro made a big layup and Norwood was credit for two points on a tip-in as they came back to within four points, 85-81, with 3:14 remaining.

But that was when France decided to pound the ball inside against an overmatched Filipino interior defense that gave up six unanswered points as the lead ballooned back to double figures in the last two minutes.-interaksyon.com

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